2 easy wins in 3 days for the Mavs with 4 more road games coming up.
I think they should win 3 of them.

Detroit is still very impressive, title candidate number 1 imo.

Houston and Sacremento are the big dissappointments so far imo, but they are not really lucky with injuries to be fair.

I watched the Heat-Spurs game last night. I really dont understanf why Riley stopped going to Shaq down low in the fourth quarter, he was on fire. If there is one lesson to take from the Pistons series last year, its that when the game is on the line, you bang the ball into the most dominant force in NBA history.

Tony Parker is playing at a superior level at the moment. His scoring average isnt spectacular, but it doesnt need to be. The guy is LEADING the NBA in points in the paint! And he is what, 6'2"? His field goal percentage is unreal for a guard.

I saw parts of a rerun of the game and I have to say that Parker is really impressive this season.
His drives seem unstoppable at most times.
He and Duncan need better scoring support in the playoffs tho so that it doesn't depend too much on those 2, for example Finley does rarely show up vs big teams like Detroit and Miami.
They missed many free throws but played like a champion in the end.
Maybe we saw the next final yesterday, seems likely if Miami find themselves and kick out Detroit which is doubtful at the moment.

Meanwhile the Mavs won easily on the road against the Clippers.

You want to know Unstoppable?!?!

Kobe Bryant is UNSTOPPABLE. 80+ points...

81 points.
MVP!
Highlights of the preformance:
http://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=38CCYJGIQQZAM1OBEDZHKOI264

Im what you would call anti-Kobe (shaq definitely has alot to do with it ) But 81 is unreal.

ok that does it...ive started a petition for kobe to be drug tested before every game lol....81!!!!! man thats jus sick

81!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHH
28 in the fourth quarter alone, thats more than my knicks score in some halfs...


Kobe is a beast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28 in the last quarter, 55 in the second half...
Not a Kobe fan either, and this just goes to show that all he cares about is scoring. A duo with Odom could truly blossom but I just feel that Kobe's individualism is holding the big guy back.

Kobe's realised that he has to score at least 50 for the Lakers to win...

OMG 81!...

Here come the Michael Jordan comparisons...Im watching Cold Pizza and the guy feels that Kobe is better at this age than Jordan, and he's a better all around player...Kobe is playing like a beast right now...

Great game indeed.
His ego and talent made it possible.


thanks .


28 of 31 Lakers points in the 4th quarter, he must have dominted the ball on every single possesion.
A holy shit performance though. Just 2 assists, not real teamplayer style.
The comment you made is spot on, well said.


Yeah, typical Kobe, score as many as possible and hoping that its enough to win the game.
Great player but way too selfish IMO.


Meanwhile the Mavs and Spurs both lead the West with 31-10.
Dallas continues to do well which is nice .

That is just blasphemous. Typical Cold Pizza (the worst sports show on television, especially that arrogant Skip Bayless). Kobe better than Jordan? Just look at the numbers, they speak for themselves. You also have to take into account that Jordan was the superior defender (to be fair Kobe is good too, but not Jordan), Jordan elevated the play of his teammates (you think Pippen would be on the 50 greatest players list without Jordan?), Kobe enjoyed his success with the most dominant inside force in the history of Basketball (Shaq). Jordan's best inside player? 'The pride of Australia' Luc Longley. Jordan was the superior leader, and a better 'big game' performer. Jordan is without a doubt the best player in basketball history. I dont know if Kobe cracks the top 15.

Kobe is a better pure scorer than anyone else ever besides maybe Wilt. That is arguable though, because Wilt just dunked and made turn arounds. Kobe is a pure scorer true and true. Jordan wasn't.

Captoon, have you seen the lakers play? Odom is a terrible player. He is getting worse and worse now. Kobe is surrounded by crap. The reason he took every shot tonight was because Lamar tried to take the game over against the Kings. We were up by 5 with 30 seconds to go. Lamar commits an offensive foul to give the kings the ball, then lacks on d to give them the three. Lamar also missed that last shot of the regulation in that game, after he refused to give it to Kobe. He later fouled out in overtime. Yeah he is a real player that is going to blosom. Lamar's sole purpose now is trade bait.
Kobe won the game, its that simple. He shot over 58% from the field. So don't try to criticize the shot selection. He shot 93% from the line. His free throw streak was broke last night too. 60 something straight. People don't notice what Kobe can do, but frankly he is the greatest player in the game right now and what he has done this season is something that will rank among the greats of all time.
The lakers with Kobe are a play off team
The lakers without Kobe are the worst team in the league by far.
Kobe has the killers instinct. He wants to win. So he does whatever he has to, to do that. Knock him as selfish or not a team player, but I don't hear the same people complaining when AI won't feed Weber the ball. And Weber is twice the player Odom is.
Kobe is only 27, give him time. He will win one ring on his own.

Jordan AVERAGED 30 points a game for his career (30.1 to be exact) and you're telling me he's not a pure scorer? Come on man. Kobe's Career average is 23.1 and hes only averaged 30 once in his career. Jordan was a better scorer than Kobe Bryant.

Michael Jordan is hands down no questions asked the best player in the history of Basketball. There is not even a debate with that. Jordan is considered one of the best sportsmen in history.

No this isn't even close here. You stated why Kobe's career average is so low (Shaq). Kobe could average around 34 this season. In an NBA, where shooting percentage is low and defenses are more athletic. kobe is doing something remarkable. I don't see Jordan ever dropping 81. Closest was 69 that was a game with overtime.
Jordan is the better player, Kobe is the better pure scorer.

wow, i couldnt believe my eyes when i read about kobe hitting 81 points. i dont really follow basketball, i play it, but this is an amazing achievement. well done kobe.

Youre right, its not even close. You say Kobe is the better pure scorer? Jordan was a 50% shooter for his career, Kobe is 45% even with the Shaq years (Shaq is famous for swelling scorers' fg%). Jordan never enjoyed an inside presence. You say Shaq took away shots from Kobe? Jordan also had Pippen, named one of the fifty greatest players ever and a pretty good scorer playing with him. Jordan almost average 30 points as a rookie. His career high is 37 points a season. Kobe hasnt sniffed those numbers. Kobe is not the better scorer, he is the more selfish scorer.

You do realize the difference between an inside presence and a swing-man scoring.
Jordan's shooting precent is swelled up. He played in a different era, the defenses today can double or triple. The only thing Jordan had was hand-checks were allowed.
MJ came to the league after a successful college career. Kobe was out of high school. If you are going to compare first year numbers, it would be more acurate to take kobe's numbers from last year.
Kobe is averaging the same shots per game as Jordan, so I wouldn't think selfish is the right word. Last night, the lakers were losing, they were down by 18 points in the third. Kobe mounted that come-back. He won the game for the team, and yes one player can be bigger than the team. Granted he scored all but three points of the lakers fourth quarter points, but he had to for the win. You saw what happened when he let Lamar take over in the fourth.
There is obvious bias on my part for Kobe, and you have some bias against Kobe (due to shaq), so this arguement may be going no where. I think you have brought up interesting points though.

I do realize the difference and Jordan was a swingman himself. The fact that he drove to the basket more often is because he is more aggressive. If they take a similar number of shots but MJ makes a higher percentage then he is the better, more efficient scorer. If you want to compare Kobe's numbers from last year he averaged 27 points at 43% shooting. Jordan consistently averaged over 30 in his career and consistently hit 50% of his shots. Thats pretty amazing for a shooting guard to shoot for that kind of percentage. Kobe has yet to average 48% for a single season.

As for Lamar Odom, I watched him consistently take over in the fourth quarter the year he was on the Heat. He led that team that included Caron Butler, Brian Grant and Dwyane Wade as a rookie to the second round of the playoffs. Right now Odom's confidence is down because Kobe doesnt give him enough of a role throughout the game. Obviously in the 4th quarter you have to go to your superstar, but throughout the game you have to share the wealth. For the record, I dont have a problem with Kobe dropping 81 points because he was simply lights out. What I dont like are the 30 point nights on 10-30 shooting.

As for my bias, It has less to do with Shaq but more to do with Jordan. I saw him in the flesh several times and I was left breathless every single time. The guy was just on a different planet. He singlehandedly torched the heat in the Eastern conference finals at the height of Mourning-Hardaway years.

Kobe is sensational. The way he is leading that Lakers team is unbelivable. Don't think you can ever compare him to Jordan though. He was just unreal.

I would like to see what Kobe can do with HIS team if he can get a couple of good players beside him. No superstar, just a couple of good players.

PS> Thanks for the video mate

Peja Stojakovic joins Indiana from Sacramento in exchange for Ron Artest.
http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/peja_release_060125.html

Artest had to be traded, he is a quality player but a troublemaker.
Indiana has another offensive option now while I have my doubts if Artest can fill in at Sacramento.
At least Peja will qualify for the playoffs then .

kobe is awesome

80 freaking 1 holy crap....

he sucha great player....

no one is as good as him right now

this guy can win the mvp

The problem with Kobe is you either love him or hate him. Then there is the whole issue of how you define valuable. Nash has been very valuable to his team, playing with scrubs and still getting 11 assists a game, but then again that could be the offense of the suns. Chauncy has been pretty valuable to the pistons at the end of games. But I don't think anyone can argue Kobe's value to the league or team. He makes the lakers exciting to watch (atleast for me he does), and he is selling out arenas while on the road. Plus the lakers wouldn't be close to .500 right now without him.

Here is my big beef with the NBA right now. The Houston Rockets will supply two players to the starting line-up of the west for the all-star game (Yao and T-Mac). For a team that is terrible, that is rediculous. I realize the fans vote for these things but Yao shouldn't be starting, the bigger thing is, he got the most votes out of any player.

nando, agree with your thoughts. Lamar led the heat in the weak eastern conference days, now those days are over. Lamar doesn't seem the same to me anyway.
Kobe does have those nights, he forces his shots, but Jordan had them too. Its their killer instinct, they need to win. Kobe has only had two games with under 30 points this year, pretty crazy. He had more points in the second half of the games he played in Jan, than Shaq and Ray Allen had in the whole month.

I agree. I was really pissed when I saw that. Both Yao and mcgrady have missed considerable part of their season through injury. If that happened in footie, it would have been an outcry. American sports are all about merchandising and business and it kinda disgusts me sometimes.

The all star game is a joke. It is entertaining....but a joke. Consequently, I don't care who is selected.

Do you think that at least some of it has to do with the dominant role Kobe has on the team? I think (and many pundits think this way too) that if Kobe scaled it back a little bit, and brought his teammates (especially Lamar) a little more into the game, then the team would benefit. They wouldnt have to rely solely on one player. What if Kobe has an off-shooting night? What if he gets hurt? Lamar's confidence seems to be extremely low, and I think that it is because he doesnt feel important. The guy has tons of talent and is extremely hard to guard because of his quickness and ball handling for a player his size. If there was to be a movement to get him more involved, there will be an adjustment period as Lamar has to regain his confidence. But if say Kobe scales it back a little bit, say 4-5 shots a game less and gives them to Lamar in the end I can see the Lakers being much more effective. Basketball is after all, a team game.


As for Yao getting more votes than anyone else, remember all star voting is done through the internet. Yao is from China. China has 1 billion people. I guarantee there has been propaganda in China for people to go online and vote for Yao. The same thing has happened in Spain with Pau Gasol. Many websites have direct links to the allstar voting. The problem is that Spain is a relatively small country.

man if kobe gets hurts

the lakers are long gone

they need to get a side kick for him...

some better than odom----> 11 points a game----> lmao

yup...yao got china behind him...

so oviously the most vote to the all star game

kobe got the 2nd most votes

i think a lot of ppl hate kobe is bcuz of the "rape"

but now hes getting his name to the top of America

i can just agree on those 2 posts, how can T-Mac and Yao deserve to be starters in the All star game even they sat out that long.
And how can Dirk Nowitzki just get the 5th most votes of the west forwards? This is a joke.
I can agree on Duncan getting more votes but the other 3 guys, don't who it was as I haven't seen the results(T-Mac + I guess Carmelo lol and maybe Marion or Garnett).
Nowitzki should be on the bench anyway but it sucks that players who don't deserve it can start.
Just change Yao and T-Mac with Camby and Dirk and it all gets more real.

lakers or mavericks to win!

Lakers for championship? Not really, maybe Dallas but surely not the Lakers.
The Mavs just made it a season high 12 wins in a row by beating the Lakers and limiting Kobe to just 24 points. Great stuff .
Many home games are ahead so the good run should continue .

i just saw the footage of that labrons guy shooting 5 balls from the other side of the court...........CRAZY!!!

Sup

I'm a Pacers fan and delighted at the Artest - Stojocavic trade, think the pacers got the best end of that deal.

That was fake. It was like Michael Vick throwing a football out of a stadium.

On the Lebron video....VERY FAKE. Have you EVER in your life seen ANYONE make a fadeaway full court shot? Additionally, notice how the ball goes off screen...exceptionally easy to fake.

On Kobe, I agree with Nando BIG TIME. That has always been one of the weaknesses of Kobe's - team play. Notice how Shaq doesn't have any problems sharing in Miami? Notice how Malone never had problems with Stockton? Further, I hated him well before the rape thing because he is sooooooo smug....just bugs me. The rape case just deepend my ill will toward Kobe.

Odom is averaging 11? Perhaps if Kobe passed more Odom would score more. Kobe's not exactly leading the league in assists, is he?

Anyway, I've been ignoring the NBA a bit since the Wolves have been sucking a**. Not sure exactly what McHale was expecting at the beginning of the season. No dominant Point Guard. No Dominant Center. You need at least two marquee players on a team to be competitive. The Wolves have ONE right now. KG can't do everything for the team. WTF. ah well.

As a post script to my last post, lets compare Kobe with two other similar players
average stats:

Player Pts Asst Rbs
Kobe . 35 4.4 5.5
Lebron 31 6.5 6.9
D Wade 27 6.9 6.0

I am biased before hand that I would prefer Lebron over Kobe. However, based on those vitals, if you didn't tell me the players name, I would pick Lebron. If you translate their assists into points, they are equal in total points contribution. Lebron pulls more rebounds (which is natural since he is bigger). But more importantly, since Lebron has more assists, he is, by default, involving his team mates more.

LeBron is the bomb.

A while back, during LeBron's rookie year, I argued that Lebron "COULD" be as good as Michael Jordan. Not saying he will....just that the potential is quite realistically there. This is Lebron's 3rd season in the NBA, right? Well, Jordan was a Jr. at North Carolina in comparison at the same point in his career.

I just hope he keeps driving to make himself better. Afterall, Jordan's determination was what set him so far above the rest.

wthat is all this talk about the lakers??? they arnt going anywhere.......sure kobe can put up amazing number here and there...but it's not like they are winining most of their games........

thast true

Okay, after the Allstar break where Dirk and Dwayne my 2 fav players won their competitions the NBA is back in business.
Stevie Francis is a Knick now, making it one more shooting guard in the body of a point guard on that Knicks roster, too many offensive guards there IMO.

Just checked the livescore of Dallas vs Toronto at halftime, Toronto up by 16 and during the 3rd up by 24.
But the Mavs came back to make it 115-113 in OT, Nowitzki and Armstrong the matchwinners.
Gotta love this team.
Poor first 3 quarters tho.

the marvs are a very good team

but i dont think they will win the final this year

its either pistons or spurs again

That is true mate, the Mavs lose games vs big opponents like San Antonio often and don't come up big when its needed.
If finally all quality players would be fit they could play a big role tho, just miss 3 important players currently, doesn't help them.
Pistons - Spurs is very likely again, hopefully with the Pistons holding the home court advantage and winning the finals in game 7 at the Palace.

yea...i thot the pistons were gonna win las year..

but they disappoint me

hopefully they do win this year

pistons spurs again is most likely althought you never know the heat could slip in there

I think the Spurs will make the finals for sure when I look on this season so far, their big threat Dallas has injured key players all season long, I think they didn't even had 5 games with the full team.
Currently 3 players of the rotation are still out, not the best pre conditions heading to the play offs.

Detroit on the other is healthy most time, always got the same starting five available. If they stay healthy I can't see them lose to Miami in the play offs.

I still hope Dallas can make it to the finals but I highly doubt it.

Hoppefuly Suns can continue the great pace When Amare Studemaire comes back

Amare is out for the season now which makes it pretty likely one less Spurs challenger this season.
Go Dallas!

Well, the playoffs start in a few days. Who is your MVP and why?

Out of the often named candidates
Billups (Pistons, best starting five around + healthy)
Brand (Clippers, quality player)
Lebron "King" James (Cavaliers, the more team minded version of Kobe)
Kobe Byrant (Lakers, 35 points a games, gifted but selfish)
Steve Nash (Suns, no Amare but a hell of a team thanks to him)
Dirk Nowitzki (Mavericks, almost led the unhealthy Mavs to the number 1 spot in the west)

2 players stand out IMO.
That's Nash & Nowitzki.
The other 4 guys have had their support pretty much together and especially Kobe acts too single minded IMO even he needs to somehow.

Nash makes players like Diaw and Bell look like stars + the Suns rock even without Amare. If it only would have worked like that in Dallas .
Nowitzki, my fav player okay, but who leads the injury troubled Mavs to 60 wins and an impressive season?
It's DN41.

I would say anyway that Nash will make the race.

Kobe v Lebron to me. I take MVP to be the player the team cannot live without. The Lakers and the Cavs are terrible teams, little talent surronding both these players yet both teams are going to the playoffs with winning records. Most people didnt think the lakers would make the playoffs this year before the year started, while most will say this is Phil's influence on the team, it is also Kobe understanding his role better. He had to go out there and score 40 a night sometimes while it may be selfish, its all in the results that matter. The most memorable moment of the season is Kobe scoring 81 in a game. Sportscenter ran the Kobe promo for 3 nights of all the teams he out-scored in a game. He is my MVP but I am quite biased.
The case for Lebron is pretty obvious. All around player and makes the Cavs look like a good team. I wouldn't be suprised to see him win.
Timmy D is always in contention with the spurs record.

According to an Arizona news-paper, Nash is the MVP.
Expect Kobe to go off tonight (or atleast take alot of shots) to prove his point that he was MVP.
The playoffs just started, no real upsets yet. Sac-town took SA into overtime last night without Artest.


---------------------------------------------------------------

Edit: Lakers win, Kobe has a low scoring night (I guess not aware of the reports that Nash is MVP), but a very solid game for him. I hope other people watched this one, it was great.
Here is the dunk Kobe had on Nash:


I could watch this all day!

I have a question for all of you..

Amare Stoudamire was like my 2nd favorite player (only behind Allen Iverson..)

but i have heard absolutely NOTHING about him. and seen NOTHING about him..

whatever happened to this guy?!

he was incredible!

Dallas and Detroit lead their series 2-0 while San Antonio(2-1 vs Kings) and Phoenix(1-2 vs Lakers) seem to struggle a bit. Things look good.
I have to say I am impressed by the Lakers, Kobe doesn't need to score 40+ and they win anyway.

He was injured almost all season long, maybe played 5 games or so.
I'm not sure exact though what kind of injury he has.

Well game 4 just finished, Lakers won 99-98 in overtime. What a game!
Kobe hits a shot at the end of regulation with .7 left on the clock to tie it. After Nash had the ball stripped from him by Smush Parker. In overtime, Nash gets tied up with Luke Walton claiming he was calling a timeout but jump ball was given. Lakers win the tip and Kobe did what Kobe does best, hits a jumper as the buzzer sounds to give the lakers a 3-1 lead in the series. Incredible.